The government is set to maintain tariffs on key farm products, including rice and wheat, under a large-scale regional trade deal between Asia-Pacific countries including China, according to a draft of the agreement seen Tuesday.
Under the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Japan will retain tariffs on its five sensitive agricultural product categories — rice, beef and pork, wheat, dairy and sugar — to protect domestic farmers from a potential influx of cheap imports, the draft confirms.
The leaders of 15 out of the 16 RCEP members plan to complete the regional free trade agreement without India in an online summit meeting to be held Sunday, creating an economic bloc representing around a third of the world's gross domestic product and population, sources close to the matter said Monday.